New Report: Green Investment Will Yield 2 Million New Jobs in Two Years

As America confronts the
current energy crisis, a new report released by the Natural Resources Defense
Council (NRDC) and partner labor and environmental
groups shows that the United States can create 2 million jobs by investing in
clean energy technologies that will strengthen the economy and fight any
effects of global warming. The report finds that investing in clean energy
would create four times as many jobs as spending the same amount of money
within the oil industry.

“This new report shows that investing in clean energy is a
win-win solution. Shifting to clean energy will put more people to work,
provide consumers relief at the pump, help reduce global warming pollution and
revitalize our economy at a time when many Americans are hurting,” said Frances
Beinecke, president of NRDC.

“Green Recovery – A Program to Create Good Jobs and
Start Building a Low-Carbon Economy” analyzes the potential for a two-year
$100 billion green investment program ― which would be comparable to the size
of the April 2008 federal stimulus package dedicated to consumer rebates ― to
be an engine for job creation in the United States. This type of investment is
a component of a broader clean energy strategy to create a low-carbon economy and
reduce global warming pollutions.

The program could be paid for with proceeds from auctions
of carbon permits under a global warming cap-and-trade program that will drive
private investments into clean energy and raise public revenue through carbon
permit auctions. A cap-and-trade program will enable America to reduce global
warming pollution to the levels science indicates are needed to avoid the worst
effects of global warming.

The report also shows that the vast majority of the 2
million jobs gained from this initial $100 billion investment in clean energy
would be in the same areas of employment that people already work in today, in
every region and state of the country; for example: constructing wind farms
creates jobs for sheet metal workers, machinists and truck drivers, among many
others. Increasing the energy efficiency of buildings through retrofitting
requires roofers, insulators and building inspectors. Expanding mass transit
systems employs civil engineers, electricians and dispatchers.

In addition to creating 2 million jobs nationwide over two
years, a $100 billion initial investment in our clean energy future would:

Create nearly four times more jobs than spending the same
amount of money within the oil industry and 300,000 more jobs than a similar amount
of spending directed toward household consumption.

Create roughly triple the number of good jobs -
paying at least $16 dollars an hour - as spending the same amount of money
within the oil industry.

Bolster employment
especially in construction and manufacturing.

Construction
employment has fallen from 8 million to 7.2 million over the past two years due
to the housing bubble collapse. The Green Recovery program can, at the
least, bring back these lost 800,000 construction jobs.

The
report proposes that the $100 billion of initial investments fund:

$50 billion for tax credits.
This would assist private businesses and homeowners to finance both commercial
and residential building retrofits, as well as investments in renewable-energy
systems.

$46 billion in direct
government spending. This would support public building
retrofits, the expansion of mass transit, freight rail and smart
electrical-grid systems, and new investments in renewable energy.

$4
billion for federal loan guarantees. This would underwrite
private credit that is extended to finance building retrofits and investments
in renewable energy.

The report was written by the Political Economy
Research Institute (PERI) at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, under
commission by the Center for American Progress (CAP) and released by NRDC and a
coalition of labor and environmental groups. The authors of the report are
Robert Pollin, Heidi Garrett-Peltier, James Heintz, and Helen Scharber of PERI.

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